Siphon-head.



P. CROVO.

SIPHON HEAD.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 19; 1915.

1,238,271. Patented Aug. 28,1917.

F E? .a

A TTORIIEYS TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PAUL GROVO, OF CARLSTADT, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO BEVERAGE MACHINE AND BOTTLE (10., INCORPORATED, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SIPHON-HEAD.

Application filed October 19, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, PAUL Cnovo, a subject of the King of Italy, whose residence and post-office address is Carlstadt, in the county of Bergen, in the State of New J ersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Siphon-Heads, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

This invention relates to siphon heads or gas reservoirs which are carried on siphons or bottles from which liquids are to be dispensed under pressure. The invention seeks to provide a head which may be placed conveniently on the neck of a bottle and yet be of such capacity as to retain a sufficient volume of gas under relatively low pressure to force the liquid from the bottle. The improved head is provided with a safety valve which communicates with the bottle and permits the gas therein to blow off when it exceeds a predetermined pressure. There is also embodied in the head an improved feed valve which controls the passage of gas from the head into the bottle and is of such character as to insure the maintenance automati cally of a predetermined pressure in the bottle by the replenishing of the gas therein, from time to time, as the liquid is dispensed. Further features of the improved head reside in the details of construction thereof and of the allied parts whereby compactness, simplicity and cheapness of manufacture are secured within such limits as are possible in a device of this character. The head itself and the associated parts thereof are so designed as to eliminate the element of danger which has always been present in known constructions by reason of the enormous gas pressure which it was necessary to retain in the relatively small head commonly employed. In the first place, the gas pressure in the improved head need not be high and, in the second place, the safety blow-01f valve is of such character as to be invariable in operation so as to relieve the bottle automatically of all pressure above a predetermined point. The invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a view in vertical section of a siphon'provided with the improved head.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary detail view in sec- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 28, 1917.

Serial No. 56,652.

tion, taken on the plane indicated by the line 22 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direct1on of the arrows, and showing particularly the construction of the improved automatic gas supply valve.

Fig. 3 is a detail view in section taken on the plane indicated by the line 33 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a detail View of the key for operating the discharge valve of the siphon.

k (Figs. 5 and 6 are other views of the same The improved head a is preferably formed as a cylindrical chamber of a diameter approximately equal to the diameter of the siphon b to which it is applied, whereby the siphon may be packed and shipped as usual. The head further has its bottom wall a recessed so that the entire head will fit down snugly over the neck I) and sloping shoulders of the bottle I). On the head a is supported a discharge cock 0 of approved construction for permitting the ready discharge of the liquid within the bottle. The discharge cock 0 has its passages controlled by a flexible diaphragm 0' to which is secured a spring-pressed plunger 0 on which are laterally extending ears 0 arranged to be engaged conveniently by the cam faces of segmental flanges cl stamped up on a suitable key d. The key is recessed at diametrically opposed points, as at CF, to permit it to be passed over the ears 0 whereupon, upon rotation of the key, the ears 0 will ride up on the flanges cl and raise the diaphragm a from its seat, thereby permitting the discharge of liquid or, during the filling of the bottle, the inflow of gas and fresh liquid, through the usual pipe 25 which extends through the head a and down into the bottle 5.

The bottom wall a of the reservoir a is preferably recessed to form a chamber at a which communicates with a passage a and pipe a with the atmosphere, and through a pipe a with the interior of the bottle Z). The passage a is normally closed by means of a flexible diaphragm e, preferably of rubber or other suitable material which may be removably mounted in operative relation to the passage a by means of a threaded plug 7'' screwed into a suitable opening in the bottom wall a of the siphon head. The diaphragm e is pressed against the passage a by means of a spiral spring 9 disposed within the plug 7 and seating thereon or on a separate plug /L which may be threaded into the plug in much the same manner as the plug is threaded into the wall (6. Further, the last named plug 71, is provided with an opening 71, t permit free, communication of the atmosphere with the lower face of the diaphragm 0. By the construction described, it will be evident that when the gas within the bottle 7) exceeds a predetermined pressure, the dia phragm 6 will be unseated so as to open the passage 11." and permit the escape of gas so long as the excessive pressure remains.

The siphon head a. may be charged with gas through a suitable pipe 2' fastened in the head and provided at its inner end with a suitable check valve by which the free inflow of gas is permitted and outflow prevented. I he form of check valve illustrated is of novel construction, comprising simply a rubber tube L which is slipped on the lower end of the inner pipe 1' so as to close yieldingly a longitudinal slot t" formed in the pipe. in this way while the inflowing gas may readily escape through the slot z" (the lower end of the pipe being closed) and from the ends oi the rubber tube, the pressure of the gas on the outer walls of the tube prevents the reverse flow of the gas. When the siphon is in use the exposed end of the pipe 2'- may, of course, be covered by a sightly cap.

The means for permitting the automatic replenishing of the gas within the bottle by the gas contained in the head, as the liquid is withdrawn from the bottle, will now be described. The lower wall a. of the head a is formed with a second recess 2-, into the mouth of which is threaded removably a plug m to close the recess and form a gas tight chamber thereof. This chamber Z is in communication with the interior of the bottle i) through a pipe Z and may be placed in con'nnunication with the interior of the head through a passage Z the end of which is controlled by a valve 12, the construction of which will be described in detail. This valve n is carried on a relatively still spring disk 0 which is maintained in fixed positionby the plug on. A convenient way of mounting the *al've n is illustrated, in which a plate 0 is fastened to the disk 0 and threaded pins 2) are passed between the plate 0 and the valve a through suitable spacing sleeves 10 whereby the disk 0 and valve are maintained in the desired spaced relationship. The spring disk 0, it will be observed, tends to seat the valve n on the passage Z and this tendency is opposed by a suitable spiral spring 9 which may'bear against the underside of the disk '0 and find a suitable seat in a supplemental plug onthreaded into the lower end of the plug m and perforated, as at m to subject the underside of the disk 0 to atmospheric pressure.

Before describing the operation of the improved siphon head in detail, it will be well to point out the means by which it may be readily and permanently united with the bottle 7). As shown in Fig. 1, the bottom wall a of the head. a, is provided with a central recess a into which may be threaded a flanged bushing 1, the inner diameter of which is approximately equal to the outer diameter of the neck of the bottle a. This bushing 71 is formed with an opening 1" through which lead or other suitable cement, indicated at 8, may be introduced into the space within the bushing 1' and inmiediately around the smaller part of the neck of the bottle 7). As soon as the cement sets, a permanent union is formed between the bushing 7* and the bottle. The head may be screwed on. and olf the bushing for use on difi'erent bottles.

In operation, it may first be assumed that it is desired to fill the bottle with a beverage under gas pressure. In practice, it has been found that a pressure in the gas -cushion of about five or six pounds is most satis factory for dispensing Coca Cola, and the parts might be described with reference to the maintenance of such pressure in the bottle. The diaphragm 0 is moved from its seat by manipulation of the key in a manner which will be evident. Vhile the invention is not to be limited to the particu lar method of filling the bottle, in accordance with a recently devised apparatus, gas may first be introduced into the bottle under a pressure,- say, of about twenty-five pounds, thereby driving all of the atmospheric air from the bottle out through the passages a and a the excessive pressure serving to overcome the spring g and unseat the diaphragm c. As soon as the atmospheric air has been driven from the bottle, the liquid is forced therein. The inflow of liquid, in turn, forces the gas from the bottle through the same passages a a until, when the bottle is just filled with liquid there will be an air cushion at the top thereof at a pressure of, say, just a little less than twentyfi've pounds. Previously, it may be assumed, the head a has been charged with gas through the passage 2' to a pressure of about fifty pounds. Such a pressure is entirely adequate for the dispensing of the liquid in a relatively large bottle,- inasmuch as the head itself is of relatively great volumetric capacity. With the diaphragm 0 seated so as to close the discharge cock 0, liquid may be withdrawn from the bottle by manipulatingthe key in the manner hereinbefore described. The first discharge of liquid will take place under the full pressure of the gas cushion, amounting to a little less than til twenty-five pounds under the assumed conditions. As the liquid level falls, this gas will expand and the pressure drop rapidly until it reaches that predetermined, say, about five or six pounds. This is ample for dispensing the liquid. Upon a further withdrawal of liquid, the pressure tends to drop to a point below five or six pounds. This is prevented automatically in the improved head by means of the check valve 0% in the chamber Z by which the flow of gas from the head into the bottle is controlled. lVhen the pressure within the bottle drops below that desired the spring q will come into play and, with the assistance of the pressure of the atmosphere on the lower side of the diaphragm 0 and the gas pressure in the head on the underside of the valve 9%, will unseat the latter against the counter-pressure of the stiff spring disk 0 and the pressure of the gas in the bottle on the exposed surface of the valve. Gas from the head will then flow freely into the bottle until the pressure is restored, at which time the counteracting forces on the valve n will cause the latter to seat and close the passage P. The operations described are repeated throughout the discharge of all the liquid in the bottle I) so that the effective gas pressure therein for dispensing the liquid will never drop below the desired point. The desirability of maintaining a gas cushion at a predetermined pressure on a carbonated beverage will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, and the elmination of the unreliable and leaky devices for holding pressure in a siphon heretofore will, in itself serve to distinguish the present improvements from constructions now used. Again, it is to be kept in mind that by reason of the provision of a head of large volume, the advantageous results set forth are not realized at the expense of the danger which has always been present in siphon bottles of large volume wherein the gas was oftentimes held in the heads at a pressure amounting to two hundred pounds, more or less, and the safety valves for permitting the escape of excessive pressure, as during times of fermentation, were of a crude and unreliable character.

The improved siphon may be altered in some of the details of construction and in the relative arrangement of the parts, but all changes are to be deemed within the spirit of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A head for siphon bottles having formed in its bottom wall a recess which forms a gas chamber in communication with the bottle and the atmosphere, a plug threaded in the recess, an elastic diaphragm engaged by the edge of the plug and seated in the recess to form one wall of the chamber, a duct from'the chamber to the atmosphere, and a spring" carried in the plug and engaging the diaphragm to seat the latter on the duct, said plug having an opening therein to expose the diaphragm to atmospheric pressure.

2. A head for siphon bottles having a gas chamber which forms a recess in communication with the bottle and the head, a plug threaded in the recess, a yielding diaphragm engaged by the edge of the plug and seated in the recess to form one wall of the chamber, a duct from the head to the chamber, a valve to control the duct and a spring carried in the plug and engaging the valve to hold the latter from its seat on the duct, said plug having an opening therein to expose the diaphragm to atmospheric pressure.

3. A head for siphon bottles having a gas chamber in communication with the bottle and the head, a yielding diaphragm to constitute one wall of the chamber, a duct from the chamber to the head, a valve mounted on the diaphragm to control said duct, means to maintain the valve in fixed relationship to the diaphragm comprising threaded pins engaging the valve and the diaphragm and spacing sleeves through which said pins pass, and a spring bearing against the diaphragm and tending to unseat the valve, said valve being subjected on one side to the pressure within the bottle and the tension of the diaphragm and on the other side to the pressure of the atmosphere and the spring.

This specification signed this 16th day of Oct, A. D. 1915. PAUL OROVO.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

